What a Wonderful World
by brihana25
Summary: A conversation between two brothers; a discussion of what lies in store for them. One-shot. SPOILER WARNING: 5x08 Changing Channels. Gen. COMPLETE.


**TITLE:** What a Wonderful World  
**AUTHOR:** brihana25  
**CATEGORY:** Angst, Epilogue  
**SEASON:** Five - immediately following "Changing Channels"  
**SPOILERS:** **5x08 Changing Channels**  
**RATING:** PG  
**DISCLAIMER:** Supernatural, its characters and situations, are copyright Eric Kripke and Warner Bros. Entertainment (The CW). No infringement on, or challenge to, their status is intended. This piece of fiction was written strictly for the entertainment of other fans, and I am gaining no form of compensation for it.  
**MORE DISCLAIMERS:** This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or actual places and locations, is purely coincidental.  
**EVEN MORE DISCLAIMERS:** The MPAA had jack-shit to do with the rating on this story, and if you think they did then you're as stupid as they are.

Criticism and feedback of all kinds is welcome, but constructive criticism and common courtesy will get you farther than flames will.

**SUMMARY:** A conversation between two brothers; a discussion of what lies in store for them.

* * *

He imagined that the world was a beautiful place, and it became one. The trees were lush and green, the water in the stream flowed cold and clear, and the mountains in the distance looked as though they'd been lifted from an oil painting. All around him, he heard the birds chirping and the squirrels chattering, and he would have smiled if he thought he could. It was so peaceful here, so tranquil and lovely, such a perfect place to go to appreciate his Father's ultimate masterpiece - this place called Earth.

But as had been the case for centuries, this place existed nowhere but in his own mind.

He'd thought he could walk away from them again, forget what they'd said, and leave them behind. Why he'd believed that, he really didn't know, because he'd certainly never been able to do it before. He'd been drawn back to them again and again, and he had yet to actually come out on top. Even though they couldn't really defeat him, they'd still beaten him at every turn.

It confused him.

He looked out across the landscape, through the trees and to the deep blue sky above the mountains, and sighed.

"How long are you going to stand back there pretending I don't know you're here?"

His uninvited, though not entirely unwelcome, guest stepped out of the tree line and walked toward him. The newcomer stopped a few feet away, standing at his right side and looking at him without speaking a word.

He wasn't really surprised that he'd been found here. This person had managed to find him and a way into his world twice before, both times without knowing the truth of his identity. Now that the other knew what – and more importantly who – he really was, finding his way in would have been simple.

"Are you gonna lecture me now, too?" he asked. "Think they missed something?"

There was no answer, only the other man's presence at his side, solid and unyielding and real and there. The silence wasn't empty though, as it had been for so many, many years. It was filled by the simple fact that after all this time, someone was there.

"I tried, ya know?" he finally said. "I tried so hard to stop them, to show them, to help them. I wanted them to know what they were heading for if they didn't stop, and they didn't understand. Or they didn't care. They're both so convinced that if they don't want it to happen it won't, and wow, that worked so well for them the last time." He'd meant the words to be strong and defiant; instead, they'd come out pained and sorrowful. He let his head fall forward and stared at the ground beneath his feet. "They just wouldn't listen."

His companion moved one step closer, almost close enough for their shoulders to touch, but still said nothing.

"I can't watch them kill each other, Cas." For the second time that day, he felt tears welling in eyes that hadn't cried in over 2000 years, and he didn't try to stop them. There was no one here who would judge him, and the need to finally tell someone what he was feeling was overwhelming. "I'd rather die myself than watch my brothers kill each other."

"Then why would you ever try to force that fate on Sam and Dean?" Castiel's first words were not of comfort, but of honesty. "You know what that will do them, Gabriel, because you know them. Neither of them will survive it, especially not the one who wins."

Silence fell around them once more, though this time it was much heavier than it had been earlier. There was a serious matter being discussed here, and it went far beyond his injured feelings. Did he really have the right to force these two boys to kill each other just to end his suffering?

"I don't really want this to happen," he admitted. "You know that, don't you? I didn't want any of this to happen. I'm just so... " The tears were falling down his cheek silently now as two millennia worth of pent-up emotion finally boiled over. "I was a herald. I spread joy and happiness by carrying the news of Father's love. I don't... I don't know how I got here from there. I remember going home one day, and listening to all the fighting, and I just left. I didn't know where I was going or what I was going to do; I just knew I couldn't stay there any more."

He took a deep breath as he lifted his eyes to the sky once more, looking past the clouds for the first time in so long and seeing the Heavens above.

"They don't deserve this," he finally said. "They never did." He turned his head toward Castiel, and deep, sad green eyes locked with his brother's bright blue. "Do you think it's really possible?" he asked. "Can they really be saved from this?"

"I don't know," Castiel answered softly. "But as Dean says... it's worth dying to find out."

"If we save them, do we save our brothers, too?"

Castiel tilted his head slightly before nodding slowly. "I think we might, if we try." He stepped forward once more, but this time stepped close enough to place a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "But it means there is no more running away, Gabe. And no more games. We have to face this. I don't pretend to know Father's intentions, but I think we should at least try to stop it. Not because Father said so, but because it's the right thing to do."

"Little brother's braver than I'll ever be," Gabriel said with a soft, sad smile. "Dean was right about that. I am a coward."

"No," Castiel insisted. "Not a coward. You said it yourself; you weren't a warrior. You were never meant to be one, Gabriel. You were always the one who felt things most deeply. Our brothers' banishment from our home and Father's disappearance were difficult for me to deal with. I can only imagine how much it hurt you, as close to them all as you were."

"I miss Him, Castiel," he finally admitted, though his voice was barely above a whisper. "I miss Him so much."

"I know. I miss Him, too."

"Is He really here?" He was afraid to get his hopes up, afraid to believe in the possibility of something that would never happen.

"If He is, we can find him. Together."

Gabriel stepped back, surprised as Castiel held his hand out to him.

"Please, come with me. Help us, Gabriel. Help me."

Gabriel didn't move, didn't respond.

"Gabe, please."

Before he understood what he was doing, his feet were moving him forward. Castiel's arms had opened and he had stepped into them, pulling his brother to him as he had been longing to do for so many thousands of years. He'd been alone, so lost for so long... but he wasn't any more.

"I've missed you, brother," he whispered into Castiel's hair.

"And I, you."

Tomorrow, they would start searching for their missing father, and they would do it together. For they were brothers, standing and fighting and facing whatever may come. Together. They would find a way to save Dean and Sam, and Michael and Lucifer, because maybe wanting something to not happen – and being willing to do anything to keep it from happening – would be enough to stop it.

And maybe, just maybe, with his brother by his side, Gabriel would be able to stop pretending that the world was a beautiful place, and see that it actually was one.

And that it always had been.


End file.
